I'll Give You the Moon
by ifonly13
Summary: Christmas is a little different this year.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: That's right - I'm back. NaNoWriMo word count met means I get to write fanfiction. Since I met the quota for 11/10 at 11:57pm, I asked for Castle prompts on tumblr. thejetsetgirl replied that I should work on a Comfort installment and gave a few other suggestions. What I started with was a Comfort chapter taking place on the beach in the Hamptons in December. What I got was something completely different and I think I like it a lot._

_**Disclaimer: The writers aren't writing fanfiction instead of memorizing lines for a French video project they need to film in 12 hours...**  
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><p>She wasn't sure why she had gone along with his plan. She had told herself she wasn't going to, that she was going to dig her heels in and refuse completely. But then, as they sat in the conference room, pouring over financial statements and cell phone records, he had turned those blue eyes on her and she found her resolve crumbling.<p>

Part of her knew that she wouldn't have been doing anything in New York City. Nothing productive anyway. She'd spend the morning at the precinct – she always took the graveyard shift on that day to give her co-workers a chance to spend the morning with their families – doing paperwork and perfecting her game of Minesweeper. Once the second shift showed up, shaking snow off their coats and carrying in leftovers from their early lunches that they'd share with her, she'd go back to her cold, empty apartment and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" and cry.

Instead, she was sitting on the side of the bed, her toes curled under her feet as she watched the time on the clock. It was still early – habit had her getting up at five – and the rest of the house was silent. But she had been awake for almost an hour and she was getting restless. A glance out the window told her it wasn't snowing, but the wind was blowing the sand on the beach across the dunes. Wind she could handle.

Kate dressed quietly, tiptoeing down to the first floor to pull on her sneakers, leaning against the wall to tie the laces. Her hair hung down on either side of her face, reminding her of the hair elastic on her wrist. Laces tied, she scraped her hair into a ponytail, securing it so it brushed her back as she swayed her head.

Castle was right, those years ago. The house in the Hamptons was right on the beach, the wrap-around deck was practically on the ocean itself. She closed the back door and walked out to the beach. No iPod or headphones this time. Just the gentle lapping of waves at the shore, the call of seagulls even in the bitter chill of December.

She jogged up and down the endless stretch of beach, her body having to work twice as hard in the sand. When she reached the house again, the tugging of her scar had reached critical. She sat on the dunes, letting her head fall back so she was looking at the purple-black sky dotted with stars.

"This how you spend Christmas at home?"

His voice didn't surprise her. Instead, she twined her fingers over her stomach, feeling the slight bump of the scar through the fabric of her shirt. "There's usually less sand."

She sensed him sit at her hip, his fingers skimming along the top of her thigh. "I'm glad you're here, though."

"Me too."

They sat in silence, him watching the waves, she looking for constellations in the sky she never got to see in the city.

"What do you normally do on Christmas?"

She swallowed, pushing herself up and bracing herself on her elbow, looking at him. "Work, mostly. I cover for the people with families." Kate had to pause, swallow again, and push past the concept. "Watch Christmas movies. Think."

"Alone?"

The sadness in his voice startled her. "Yeah."

His hand found hers, still resting on her stomach, and hooked his pinky through her slim finger. "Then I'm doubly glad you're here."

"Even if I'm sitting on the beach in the cold?"

"Even then."

She rolled, pressing her front against his side. "What's the agenda for the day?"

He leaned down, his lips ghosting across the delicate skin of her ear. "Breakfast before presents. Then we watch 'It's A Wonderful Life' because it's Mother's favorite." Her head withdrew from next to his. "What's wrong? Because we can switch up the order if we need to."

Kate couldn't tell if the salty taste in her mouth was the ocean air, her sweat from the run, tears, or a combination of the three. "No. No, the order's fine."

"Then what's wrong?" he asked, scooting over in the sand to wrap his arms around her shoulders, tugging her against his chest.

"Just…" she sighed, letting herself relax against him. "My mom loved James Stewart. We'd watch that movie every year right after breakfast, the three of us on the couch in the living room, sharing a blanket. Mom knew all the words." Kate laughed, turning her face into Castle's chest, her nose burying itself in the warmth of his jacket. "Drove Dad crazy when she'd whisper them into his ear."

His fingers tugged on the ends of her hair, shaking the sand out of it. "We don't need to watch that movie if you don't want. Mother will understand."

"No." She pulled back, meeting his eyes. "I want to." She placed a kiss on his lips, her own mouth smiling as she did so. "It's my favorite Christmas movie."

He stole a second kiss from her, his hand cradling the back of her head. "Well breakfast usually come first, but I think we need a shower before we gorge ourselves on pancakes and bacon and eggs and homefries and whatever else I cook up." He stood first, helping her to her feet.

"'We need a shower'?" she asked, walking back to the house with her pinky linked with his again. Her legs were twitching from the run. "You didn't do anything to deserve a shower."

Suddenly, his finger was gone from her hand as he fell right into a forward roll. His body collected sand at the same time as it kicked the grains up around him and onto her pants. When he righted himself, shaking his head to get the sand from his eyes, he grinned back at her triumphantly.

"Now I have." He grabbed her hand, practically dragging her back up the steps to the porch and through the back door, past the Christmas tree they had decorated two days ago and up the stairs. At the top, he paused, listening for sounds of Alexis or his mother. When the coast was clear, he walked past the closed doors to his room, shutting that door behind them.

"Wait here."

He ran into the bathroom and she heard the shower turn on. Sand was pricking at her from under her shirt, so she pulled it over her head, tossing it into the corner to wash later. She toed her sneakers off, kicking them in the same direction as the shirt and had her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her pants when he re-entered the room.

When he frowned, Kate crossed her arms over her chest. "What?"

"You were my present." He was taking steady strides toward her and she wasn't backing up. "I'm supposed to unwrap you. An unwrapped present is no fun."

She ducked out of his reach, dancing toward the bathroom. "Fine. If I'm no fun, you can just stand around with sand in your clothes while I shower and you can jump in after me."

Kate barely held in her squeal when he lunged after her, catching her around the waist and pulling her back against his chest. As he kissed her neck where it met her chest, sand from his hand fell down her sports bra. "Castle, you're getting sand on me!"

Less than a minute later, when she found herself pressed against the wet tiles of the shower, Castle pressed his lips against hers. "Merry Christmas, Kate."

She returned the favor, pushing up on her tiptoes. "Merry Christmas, Castle."

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><p><em>AN: I adore "It's A Wonderful Life" and I added a lot of my relationship with my mother into this story (except in my household, there are six of us curled up around the living room watching the movie instead of the Becketts' three). Any other fans out there?_

__This will definitely have a few more chapters - I have ideas. At least one more chapter for sure to be written whenever I get the chance.__

_That said, I still like getting feedback. In fact, I love getting feedback._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I'm not sure how I'm doing this, but somehow, I'm keeping up with my schoolwork, my NaNo word count, and writing fanfiction for you all. This is an ability I did not know I possessed. It's your gain!_

_**Disclaimer: "Oh, wouldn't it be loverly?" (You get the reference, you get brownie points.)**  
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><p>Kate was wringing her hair out in a towel, perched on the edge of the bed as she had an hour ago before her run. Except this time, she was naked and energized, not in her pajamas and still on the border of exhaustion. Across the room, Castle was riffling through the drawers, a towel looped around his hips, his hair a wild mess of spikes from the shower, just begging her to run her hands through the strands again.<p>

"Is this too loud?" he asked, turning around with a sweater held against his bare chest.

One look at the sweater had her nodding quickly. The thing was red and green striped, thin white lines between the colors. The front was embellished with a reindeer, Santa perched on its back holding a present over his head.

His hand dropped to his side, the sweater dangling on the floor. "Come on, Kate! You need to wear an ugly sweater on Christmas! It's tradition."

"Were we ever ones for tradition, Castle?" she asked, waltzing past him to hang up the towel and grab the brush to untangle her hair. She darted out of his reach when he tried to pinch her side.

"Shush with your reasonableness," came the response, followed by more fabric being shoved aside as he searched for a different sweater.

When she moved back into the bedroom, he had pulled on jeans and thick socks and stood, examining two sweaters laid out on the bed side by side. She came up behind him, wrapping her arms under his and up onto his shoulders, pressing her body against his bare back and resting her chin on his left shoulder, looking down at the choices. She laughed at his quiet groan as she pointed to a deep blue sweater. "That one." She didn't add the reasoning that the navy brought out the blue of his eyes.

He turned, trying to snag her but she danced away. "You going to get dressed? Because I think that would be a shock to Mother and Alexis."

She smiled over her shoulder as she picked out underwear, jeans, and v-neck sweater of the deepest pink. She flipped her hair out from under the neckline of the sweater, the ends still damp, sending droplets into the air. As she looped a cream scarf around her neck, she felt a hand at the small of her back, propelling her toward the door.

"Castle?"

He only stopped when she was in the hallway, the fringe of her scarf in one hand. "You can't see your presents before they're under the tree! Scoot!"

Confused, but with the ghost of a smile at his childishness, she went downstairs to pull her own presents from their hiding spots and place them under the tree. Where Castle went overboard with gifts, Kate kept things simple. He needed two trips up to the room to bring down all the boxes and bags. Kate carried everyone's gifts from the guest room linen closet in one trip.

The tree was something special. Kate hadn't decorated a tree since she got her own apartment in her junior year of college; it was something families did and, living alone, she didn't see the point. Plus, it brought back memories of playing "Mele Kalikimaka" with her parents, stringing lights and tinsel around a real pine tree. When Castle insisted she join in on the decorating, she had hesitated, staring at the pine tree in the living room of the house.

"_It'll be fun!" He slipped his hand into hers, giving her a gentle squeeze._

_She tugged her hand from his, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the box of ornaments he had toted down earlier that day. The top was folded in on itself and she popped one corner open, releasing the other three. She could feel his eyes on her, standing only three feet from her, as she dug into the box. The ornament in her hand was one of his favorites, given to him by Alexis a few years ago. It was a pile of books, a little green worm reading on the stack, an apple at his side._

_Smiling, she got up and hung it on a branch, watching the needles fall as the hook caught. Her eyes were sparkling when she turned around and caught his gaze. "There. The first ornament."_

_Castle let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He placed a quick kiss on her lips, then grabbed his laptop, plugged it into the house's stereo system, filling the house with the sounds of the Boston Pops playing "Sleigh Ride" as they arranged homemade ornaments and store-bought ones on the branches. They took a break after half an hour, eating gingerbread and sipping hot chocolate on the couch, Martha still wearing the apron from her jaunt in the kitchen._

_Once every ornament had found a place on the tree, Alexis had gone up to her room to wrap presents and Martha resumed the mixing of yet another batch of cookies. Kate and Castle had sat on the couch, their stocking feet bumping each other, the tree in front of them sparkling with string lights designed to look like icicles. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, her eyes closed._

_He leaned down, kissing the lids gently. "There's an ornament missing."_

_Her brow furrowed, her eyes opening. "No, the box was definitely empty."_

"_It wasn't in that box." He shrugged his shoulder, dislodging her cheek so he could get up. He reached up above one of the cupboards in the kitchen, smiling at his mother before walking back to the couch. He didn't sit next to her, but on the ottoman where her feet rested, holding the box out to her._

_Kate's heart leapt up to her throat. Of course her mind had gone right to a ring which meant a proposal which they had both decided to hold out on. He saw her eyes widen and shook his head. "Just look."_

_She opened the box, taking out a delicate glass spider web suspended from a silver string._

"_Spider webs on Christmas trees mean good luck," he explained, tapping one of the edges so the web spun in her hand. "And everyone needs a little luck now and then."_

As she straightened, toeing the last of her presents into its spot under the tree, Kate ran a finger over the curved edge of the web.

"What do you want to eat?"

She knelt on the couch, leaning her arms on the back and looking into the kitchen. He was brandishing a whisk, a bowl with pancake batter in the crook of his arm. There was a spot of batter on his cheek and Kate wanted nothing more than to go over and lick it off him.

"Pancakes are fine."

"Good." He switched out the whisk for a large spoon and started forming shaped pancakes on the griddle.

Martha appeared at her side, sitting on the couch with her slippered feet propped on the ottoman. "Merry Christmas, Kate."

"Merry Christmas, Martha," she said, curling her feet under her as she turned, sitting facing the tree with the older woman.

"You make him happy, you know."

Kate glanced over at the woman. It was hard to take Martha Rodgers seriously when she was wearing pajamas of bright pink and green, flashes of orange in the design. But she was smiling, a genuine smile that reached her eyes, as she took a sip of the hot chocolate in her mug.

"You're good for him. You ground him." Martha was wiggling her slippers as she spoke. "And he's good for you." Kate stared this time. "I can't say I knew you well when he first started shadowing you, but I've seen you enough over the years to know you are better off with him at your side."

"Martha…"

"Shh. Here he comes." Martha grinned as her son rounded the couch. "Merry Christmas, Richard!"

He leaned over, placing a kiss on her cheek. "And to you, Mother." His next stop was Kate, brushing a hand through her hair before kissing her. "Merry Christmas, Kate."

She reached up, wiping the bit of batter off his cheek. "You already said that once today."

"Some things bear repeating."

"Go get my pancakes, Castle," she said, giving him a little push away from her face.

He pouted on his way back into the kitchen. "Aren't I supposed to be the one demanding food from the servile womenfolk?"

He wasn't surprised when a throw pillow hit him squarely in the back of the head.

"Point taken."

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><p><em>AN: I had other ideas for this chapter but the characters brought it in their own direction and I went along for the ride. That means at least another chapter so I can get them to go where I want. Another gain for you all!_

_Until then, review away! I'm spending all day tomorrow in Starbucks writing, so getting reviews throughout the day would encourage me._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Don't get used to multiple story updates in a single night, okay? I'm a good writer, but not that talented. (Plus, you can cheer yourself up from reading the latest Comfort installment with the fluff of this story!)_

_**Disclaimer: I hope you all don't think I'm one of the real writers. Because I'm not. And that would dash a lot of your dreams if you did think I lived in LA and wrote on this gem of a show.**  
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><p>Presents were opened, the wrapping paper shoved into gift bags and then tossed into a corner of the living room. Kate had traded in the hot chocolate for coffee, needing the caffeine before her headache reached debilitating. She had sat on the ground, finding an empty space in the chaos of opened gifts, taking the first sip of coffee and closing her eyes. Then, she found herself pulled backwards, the small of her back meeting his stomach. His lips pressed against the strip of skin exposed at her shoulder.<p>

"Merry Christmas."

She angled her head to look at him. "You're starting to sound like a broken record, Castle."

He took advantage of her facing him and kissed her. "You love it."

Kate added a peck before turning her head away from him, letting it rest on his shoulder. "Mmmm… I'm not sure I do."

"You're a terrible liar."

"You can't know that."

"Yes. I can." His voice was victorious as she took another sip of coffee. "You see, I know you're smiling right now, around the edge of that mug. Drinking the coffee is a ploy to distract me from that little grin but I know you too well."

Kate was mentally cursing him, lowering the mug to rest it on her knee. She knew he was smiling like she did when she caught the suspect in a lie. "Shut up, Castle."

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><p>After a dinner with far too much food for four people, they settled in front of the television, the special edition DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life" starting up. Kate and Castle were curled up on the couch under a throw blanket with just their feet poking out from the bottom. Alexis was on the floor, her back against the front of the couch. Martha had claimed the armchair.<p>

Kate was tired, her eyes fluttering open and shut. She wanted to focus on the movie, watching George and Mary throw stones at their future home, the old man on the porch watching them. Castle was stretched out behind her on the couch, his left arm draped over her waist, the other holding his head up so he could see the television over her head.

He surprised her when his voice whispered into her ear, "What is it you want, Kate? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around and pull it down. Hey! That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Kate."

"I'll take it," she responded along with Mary, twisting in his arms to face him. "Then what?"

"Well, then you could swallow it, and it'll all dissolve, see? And the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair. Am I talking too much?" He was smiling, their noses touching as he spoke the lines.

"Yes!" Martha jumped in. "Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?"

Kate barely had time to smile before he did just that. The hand that had been supporting his head threaded through her loose hair, holding her close to him even as his other hand pulled her body against his.

"Well you two aren't wasting your youth," Martha commented, turning back to the movie. "Just keep it down when James is speaking."

Kate pulled back. "Castle, you behave for the rest of the movie and I'll give you your last present at the end. Deal?"

His eyes lit up. "Deal."

They made it through the entrance of Clarence to George's wish to have never been born, through George's desperate pleading with Clarence to make him live again to the very last scene of everyone singinging "Auld Lang Syne" in the Bailey House. And just as the little bell on the tree rang, Castle pulled his own jingle bell from his pocket and shook it over Kate's head.

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets her wings."

She didn't try to hide her smile as she turned her head. He gave her a quick kiss. "We both know you already have yours. Those are for your mother."

"Castle…" A new batch of tears joined the ones that always came with the end of the movie. She pushed forward, kissing him. "Thank you," she whispered against his lips.

"Any time, Kate."

They said goodnight to Martha and Alexis, leaving them alone in the dark of the living room, lit only by the icicle lights on the tree. Her head was nestled in his shoulder, his hand tracing patterns up and down her back under the blanket.

"I have a final present for you, too, Kate."

He felt her lips move against his shoulder. "You don't need to give it to me."

"It's not physical." He gave her a gentle push, just enough to see her face even in the low lighting. "It's a promise. One day, I'm going to marry you." Her eyes widened, so he pushed on before she could respond. "It won't be today or even next month or next year. But someday, we'll stand in Central Park and exchange vows. And your dad will be there along with Mother and Alexis and Lanie and the boys. We'll leave empty chairs on the aisle for your mother and Montgomery." He reached over, brushing the tears making fresh tracks down her cheek away. "You'll look so beautiful that I'll cry. And then we can dance and spend the night surrounded by friends and family. And the next day, we can go back to work, exactly like we always do."

Her kiss was gentle, sweet. "God, Castle, has anyone told you that you have a way with words?"

"Once or twice that concept has come up, yes." He was grinning as he tucked a strand of her hair behind an ear. "I do love you, Kate."

"I sort of love you, too, Castle."

They let the silence envelope them, spending the last moments of Christmas pressed together on the couch. Just as the clock on the mantle rang out twelve times, Castle placed his lips as close to her ear as possible without touching the skin and whispered, "So, about my last present?"

She rolled off the couch first, tossing the blanket over the back and reaching down to tug him to his feet. "Well, it's hidden up in the bedroom, so…"

Then, without another words, she was off running toward the stairs, using the banister to propel herself up the steps. She could feel him at her heels as she swung around the doorframe. Kate made the mistake of turning in the center of the room just in time to be tackled to the bed, his body driving the breath out of her.

"Where is it, Kate?" he asked, pressing kisses to her jawline down her neck to the top of her chest exposed by her sweater. "Where's my present?"

"Well," she managed, her voice shuddering as he tugged down the neckline of the sweater. "It's really well hidden. Might need some serious detective work to locate."

"I'm good at that."

"It'll need a top-notch investigator on the case," she gasped as his hand tickled its way up under her top along her skin.

"We've got two of those. I'm sure we can combine our skills."

It was his turn to exhale quickly as she flipped them over, the ends of her hair brushing his nose. "And what if I don't break?"

His fingers were gripping her sides and, before she could counter, he had tossed her across the bed. She laughed as he crawled over her, hitching her sweater up as he kissed the skin he uncovered. "I'm very thorough, you know." He paused, placing butterfly kisses on the thin skin of her collarbone. "Kate. My present."

She twisted her fingers through his hair, tugging his head away from her for a second. "Is me. Maybe not tomorrow or next month or next year, but eventually. I want to stand in Central Park with you. Cry over Mom not being there, have Dad give me away, make you cry. Someday, Castle."

He was silent, digesting her words. She kept watch on his eyes until he smiled. "Promise?"

"Can we throw rocks through your loft's windows?"

That suggestion had him scrunching his face up. "Kate, that loft is worth at least five…" he trailed off when he saw her shaking with laughter. "Oh, a jokester, are we? We can fix that."

He disappeared off the bed, taking the heat with him. Kate sat up, watching as he walked across the room. And then, she jumped, landing on his back with her legs wrapped around his waist. She nibbled on his ear.

"Where're you going?"

Castle chuckled as he turned, stepping backwards until her back hit the wall. With a squeak, she let go and fell to her feet. Just in time for him to swivel and press her against the wall, holding her upper arms for a second before letting his fingers trickle down to her wrists, linking their fingers. "Right here. With you. Always." He lowered his lips to her cheek. "I'm not going to throw this away, Kate."

"Good. Because I'm planning on sticking around." She turned her head enough to kiss him. "Castle, if we were to throw rocks through a window, this is what I'd wish for."

He leaned his forehead against hers. "I hope you don't need to throw stones through my loft to get your wish, Kate."

"It hasn't come to that yet. But at least you'll understand when you find a hole through the window in the study."

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><p><em>AN: And so ends "I'll Give You the Moon." This story was so much fun because I got to weave hints of my favorite Christmas movie into it. There may be an epilogue coming if I have time to write it since I do have one last scene I want to throw in and it didn't fit in this last chapter. But we'll see._

_You know what would urge me to make time? Reviews. Just sayin'..._


	4. Epilogue

The day after Christmas was reserved for sleeping, broken only by the need to eat before tumbling back into the sheets and pillows for the next installment of sleep. Everyone in the Castle household knew the schedule of the day. They passed like ships in the night as each of them emerged long enough to grab a sandwich or a pile of cookies before locking themselves back into their room.

Despite being warned about the plan for the day, Kate found herself restless again. Castle was snoring lightly at her side, his face buried into the pillow. For a few minutes, she was content in watching him sleep, running her hand through the ends of his hair that would certainly be completely flat on one side and a spiky mess on the other. Then, even that was boring, not enough for her to do.

So she padded out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her quietly. She took the throw blanket she and Castle had cuddled under the previous night, wrapping it around her shoulders as she went back out onto the beach.

A city girl for most of her life, Kate learned to appreciate the time she had away from concrete and steel. The feeling of the sand shifting under her feet was still something she was getting used to, something she thought she could become used to over time.

The waves were lapping the shore, moving further up as the tide came in. The moon was suspended over the horizon, ready to hide for the day until its turn to rise again came up. She sat on the sand, just close enough to the water to feel the foam on her toes but far enough away that the water wouldn't soak through the fabric of her leggings. The ocean breeze was playing with her hair and she knew she'd have to take a shower to get the grains of salt out of the strands. She pulled it over her shoulder, her fingers twirling the ends as she watched the moon set.

"Last chance. You want it for Christmas?" The sand next to her depressed as he sat, his arm inching around her waist under the blanket. "I know I have some rope around here somewhere."

Kate laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. "No. I've got everything I need. The moon can stay in the sky."

"Good." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, tasting the salty air that had settled there. "Because us space cowboys don't really do the whole lasso thing."

"Still bitter over Alexis's comment, what was it, four years ago?"

"She didn't need to be so mean. There are totally cows in space."

"If you say so." He could only see her profile, but her little smile was visible as she sighed the words.

They sat, watching the moon dip below the water, the reflection shimmering on the waves before disappearing completely. Behind them, the sun was peaking over the tops of houses, warming their backs.

"Come on," she said, pulling him to his feet after her, the water tickling their toes. "Let's go back to bed."

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><p><em>AN: And we've come full circle with the story. I felt the need to find some real closure for the story and I think I've done it with this little tidbit._

_Reviews for the last of I'll Give You the Moon would be lovely. There's a final chapter to Forget About the Boy coming along with a little story based on Cops and Robbers._


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